DONALD HEATH: State champion Atom Smashers take a page from Blue Jackets

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News Johnson High players and coaches wiat for the final seconds to tick off the clock so they can begin to celebrate their 61-51 win over Savannah High during Saturday night's State Class-AAA championship game at the Macon Centreplex.

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News Johnson High's Tim Quarterman pumps his fist as he runs the court after scoring during Saturday night's State Class-AAA championship game at the Macon Centreplex.

It’s time to admit a lot of us were wrong. Or, I should say, I was wrong.

As if I was standing in the batter’s box and Justin Verlander reared back and fired, I couldn’t see it coming.

Johnson High School beat Savannah High at its own game Saturday night. The Atom Smashers buckled down on defense. They played harder, played with more determination and settled a local basketball score that just happened to be for a state championship 170 miles away from the neighborhood.

Give Johnson its props during a start-to-finish 61-51 victory over the Blue Jackets for the Class AAA state title at the Macon Centreplex.

An estimated 7,000 made the journey from Savannah, dividing the arena the way Georgia and Florida football fans split the Gator Bowl.

It was a historic moment for city of Savannah athletics — this time without the hint of segregation in the air.

Two Savannah schools were meeting in a Georgia High School Association state championship basketball game for the first time in 45 years since Johnson defeated Beach for a title in Atlanta.

Fittingly, Gator Rivers, a former Harlem Globetrotter and a Beach High star who played in that game 45 years ago, put on a small halftime show of trick ballhandling Saturday.

Not surprisingly, the Atom Smashers’ team bus broke down earlier in the day, leaving Johnson’s players and coaches to rely on Savannah High’s team bus to get them to the arena.

Unexpectedly, Johnson won without luring the Blue Jackets into a run-and-gun Wheaton Street Park affair. The Smashers’ 3-2 zone defense, with size around the perimeter, left Savannah struggling to find good outside shots. Johnson outworked the Jackets on the backboards.

Who saw that coming?

Winning ways

The biggest difference between Savannah High and Johnson on Saturday was pretty evident. Atom Smashers senior guard Tim Quarterman, headed to LSU next year, wore green socks and green sneakers while the other nine on the court wore blue sneakers.

Quarterman, who played for Savannah High as a freshman, stood out in other ways. He scored a game-high 21 points, including nine straight for his team in a 2½-minute span of the second quarter to provide Johnson with some separation.

The Atom Smashers played with a double-digit lead for the final 12 minutes and 57 seconds.

“We couldn’t get in a rhythm,” SHS coach Tim Jordan said. “Our defense wasn’t where we wanted it, and our offense wasn’t where we wanted it.”

And that’s a tough combination to overcome.

For the second year in a row, the Blue Jackets reluctantly accepted a state runner-up trophy and silently made their way back to the locker room.

About 100 feet away, outside the Johnson locker room, the Smashers celebrated as if they were at a Pitbull concert. It was that Krazy.

It was the fourth meeting between the two schools this basketball season. Savannah High won two and Johnson won two.

The Blue Jackets won the Region 1-AAA tournament championship. But the Atom Smashers won the game that mattered the most.